Building construction



July 12, 1960 P. J. MALARKEY BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 14, 1958 INVENTOR Paul J Malwzzke y ATTORNEYS 2,944,370 Patented July 12, 1950 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Paul J. Malarkey, 2214 Graustark Path,'Wooster, Ohio Filed Aug. 14, 1958, 'Ser. No. 755,014

3 Claims. (Cl. 50-52) Where the fabricated sections are'comp'osed' of amolded' plastic material the various fabricated sections may be provided with integral fastening means which upon assembly with adjacent parts provide a permanent, tightly assembled unit having amini'mum number of parts necessary for their assembly;. .With fabricated molded plastic material the fabricated sections may be' standardized'to suchanextent that a singlelocking member may be'used for sliding adjacent parts to the locked position after their preliminary assemblyin an unlocked position. Thereafter the locking member'may be secured in place to prevent its return'to the unlocked position. Such a construction involves a minimum number of parts and is quickly assembled from the unlocked to the locked position. It has been found that the several prefabricatedparts maybe preliminarily assembled in an unlocked position and then simply rotated by a slide locking member from said preliminary position to the final locked position with a minimum of time and efiort.

Moreover, the building construction of prefabricated molded members composed of plastic may be disassembled without destruction of the various members or the locking parts involved. It is therefore readily apparent that such a building construction is conducive to permanent or temporary buildings having self-locking means associated therewith. g I

Accordingly, it is a general object of this invention to provide a building construction having self-locking means includedjwith the various members tobe secured togetherj .7

:It is another object of this invention to provide me fabricated building construction members having molded locking means integral therewith.

It is another object of this invention to provide a prefabricated building construction having interlocking parts with a slidable locking member for securing. the entire building together by a single locking movement.

Finally, it is an object of thisinvention to provide an improved prefabricated building construction which incorporates the foregoing desiderata in an inexpensive manner and with simplified maintenance and operation.

These and other objects and advantages apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description and claims may be obtained, the stated results achieved and described difliculties overcome by the discoveries, principles, apparatus, parts, combinations, subcombinations and elements which comprise the present invention, the nature of which is set forth in the following stateing adjacent sides forming a joint extending around the ment, a preferred embodiment of which, illustrative of the best mode in which applicant has contemplated applying the principles, is set forth in the following description, andwhich is particularly and distinctly pointed out and set forth in the appended claims forming part hereof.

The building construction of the presentinvention may be stated in general terms as including a dome-shaped structure having a plurality of triangularly shaped roof members and'a plurality of substantially vertical wall members, the roof and Wall members having correspondbuilding in a horizontal plane, the roof members also having apices joined at the'uppermost end of the building, each roof member having flanged sides one with a tongue and the other with a groove for receiving the tongue of an adjacent roof member, the wall members having" side flanges with corresponding tongue and groove elements, the sides of the roof members forming the joint with'the wall members being flanged and having an L-shaped lug extending therefrom, the side of each wall member forming the joint with the roof members being flanged and having a lug-receiving aperture, a locking ring at the joint between the roof and wall members, the'ring having a plurality of lug-receiving aper-' tures aligned with'the lugs on the roof members, the apertures in the ring also being aligned with the apertures in the wall members, the ring being rotatable .to rotatetheassembled roof members with respect to the assembled Wall members at the horizontal joint, the lugs beingmovable from an unlocked to a locked position Within the apertures of the wall members, and at least one locking pin extending through the flanges and locking ring; i I

By way of example, the improved building construction is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which;

Figure 1 is an elevationalview of a dome-shaped prefabricated building;

Fig. 2 is an exploded view showing various parts of th building in pre-assembled positions;

- Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the interlocking parts in their locked positon as viewed from the side opposite that of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 4+4 of Fig. 3.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the ;when assembled form the uppermost part of the domed roof. The lowermost edges of the roof members 2 are oftequal-width. l

The wall members 3 are similar in that they have identical outer dimensions. The upper ends of all Wall members are equal to each other and to the lower ends of the roof members. Also, the lower ends of the wall members 3 are equal in width to each other.

Certain of the wall members 3a are provided with windows 4 while certain other wall members 3b are provided with door portions 5.

The roof members 2 and the Wall members 3 include flanges which extend around the peripheries thereof, preferably in a continuous integral manner. The roof members 2 include flanges 6 extending along opposite sides from the lower end to the upper apices thereof. The flanges 6 of adjacent members are abuttable when assembled. In addition, each roof member 2 includes a flange 7 extending along the lower edge thereof between the flanges 6. 7

Likewise, the wall members 3 include integral flanges 3 extending along opposite vertical sides thereof, as well as an upper flange 9 and a lower flange 10.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the vertical flanges 6 and 8 of the roof and wall members 2 and 3, respectively, are provided with complementary tongue and groove members 11 and 12 which interfit or interlock together g; reinforce the adjacent members when finally assem- The assembled building 1 also includes means for securing the upper roof members 2 to the assembled vertical Wall members 3. The means includes an L-shaped lug 13 extending from the lower side of. the flange; 7 of each roof member. 2, and. a lug-receiving. aperture 14 in. each flange 9 of the wall members Moreoventhe. locking means includes anannular look.- ing; ring 15 having a plurality of. lugrreceiving apertures 16, thespaci-ngs of which. correspond to: the spacings of the spaced lugs of. adjacent assembled roof members 3 or the spacing of spaced apertures 1.4 of adjacent assembled wall. members 3.

As shown in Fig. 2', the. locking. ring 15; includes an upturned flange 17. The flange 17, together with the adjacent roof members 2,.may'serve as a gutter for rain water falling onthe roof members 2.

Finally, the locking means includes at Ieastone. locking pin 18, and a plurality of spaced pin-receiving apertures. 19, 20, and 21 intheflange 7, the lug13,.and.the' flange 9, respectively. When the several parts arecompletely assembled in the locked position: as shown-in Fig. 3, the locking pin 18 extends through the various aligned apertures 19,v 21,. and 20.

In operation, the building 1 is assembled by first as: sembling the tongue and groove members 11 and; 1213f the adjacent roof members 2. and wall. members 3 together as shown. for the wall members in Fig. 4. There-- after. the lugs 13 of the roof members 1'2 are lowered. in place through the aligned apertures 16 and 14. of the locking. ring 15 and flanges 9, respectively. The locking ring 15 and the roof members. 2 are then rotated to the right as shown in Fig. 2' until. the lugs completely engage the under surafces of the various. flanges 9 of the wall members 3.. In: such position. the several apertures 19, 16, 20, and 21 are aligned for insertion. of the looking, pin 18' as shown: in Fig. 3. With the locking pin. in place it is impossible for the upper roof members 2 to rotate out of engagement with the wall members 3. One or more locking pins 18 may beused.

The building construction of the present invention is: an. improvement over previous constructions inv that it is composed of a minimum number of parts. terials used are preferably composed of molded plastic whereby the interfitting or interlocking parts are integral with the several roof and wall members and thereby provide self-locking parts conduciveto' easy assembly.

The ma:

' useful results provided;. the. new and. useful discoveries,

Moreover, the members may be disassembled without incurring destruction of the several parts. involved.

In the foregoing description certain terms have been principles, parts, elements, combinations, subcombinations, structures and arrangements, and mechanical equivalents obvious to those skilled in the art, are set forth in the appended claims.

Iclaim: i

1. In a building construction having adome-shaped structure with a plurality of triangularlyshaped roof members and a plurality of wall. members, and in which the roof members have lower flanged sides forming a horizontal joint withv top flanged sides of the wall niemhers; the combination in which one of said roof'and wall members has. at least: one L-shaped lug and the other of said members has corresponding lug receiving apertures, a locking ring disposed between the flanged sides of the roof and wall members forming thehori'zontaljoint; the having a plurality of lug-receiving apertures alignedwith the apertures of the assembled members, and thering being: movable to rotate the assembled roof members: from unlocked to locked positions of the interfitting locking members.

2.. In. a building construction having a dome-shapedstructure with a plurality of triangularly shaped root'- members' and a plurality" of wall members; and inwhich the roof members have: lower flanged si'd'es forming a horizontal joint with top: flanged sides of the wall members; the combination in which theroof members in-- chtde L-shaped lugs and the wall members include lug-- receiving apertures, alockingring disposed between the flanged. sides. of the roof and wallmembers forming ahorizonta-l joint, the ringhaving a plurality of lug-receiv ing apertures aligned with the apertures of the wall mem' bers, and the ring being movable to rotatethe assembled roof members from locked to unlocked positions.

3'. The construction set forth in claim 2 in which the flanges of the" sides of the: roof and wall members at thehori'zontal joint are provided with aligned apertures in the locked position, and a locking pin extending through said aligned apertures.

2,365,145 Nefi Dec. 12, 1944 Walker Dec". 29-, 1891 a 

